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Resilient Communities
Building our communities and social systems at all scales to help people thrive and protect them from climate instability.
Social connectedness and cohesion: With growing climate instability, we must create the conditions for people to have strong social networks and to grow greater social cohesion at all levels, from local communities to national and international relations.
The United States is suffering an epidemic of social isolation and a decay of social cohesion. On the local level, it is well known that social isolation worsens many ills and shortens lifespans, but it also increases vulnerability to climate threats like heat waves. On the broader community and national level, the decay of social cohesion undermines trust and cooperation, which are essential for implementing effective climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. Without strong social networks, the challenges posed by climate change—such as displacement, economic hardship, and health crises—could exacerbate social fragmentation, leading to further instability and conflict. On the other hand, creating the conditions for individuals to be socially connected and our society to be socially cohesive will increase the quality of life for all while protecting us from the climate instability ahead. The methods to achieve this vision must be both broad and specific, a multifaceted society-wide effort.
Greenspace: Ensuring our cities have enough green space to protect them from heat waves and other extreme weather, and that all people have access to and benefit from that green space in their daily lives.
Greenspace is essential both to improve daily quality of life and to protect people from extreme weather. Greenspace improves mental health, helps people be physically active, cleans our air, and builds social cohesion. Adequate greenspace protects against overheating of cities during heat waves and helps prevent flooding during storms. But due to redlining and other racist policies, people of color and those with low income have been blocked from adequate access to green space, lowering their daily quality of life and leaving them vulnerable to climate extremes. We must ensure our cities have abundant, well-designed green space for everyone.
Diverse & Strong Public Health Systems: We need strong public health surveillance, a diversified workforce, and public education to prevent issues before they occur.
As threats from climate change worsen, we need to strengthen our public health and health systems so they improve health now and increase resilience to climate impacts, focusing on those who are most vulnerable. This means expanding and diversifying our public health and healthcare workforces and ensuring those workforces are well trained in both climate health and health equity. We also need adequate public health monitoring for the health harms of climate change, so we can adapt as needed to protect people. That means having adequate monitoring systems for the impacts of both our energy system, including air pollution, and impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather like heatwaves, flooding, and wildfire smoke events. We must ensure our governments, educational institutions, and healthcare sector are adequately prepared for climate emergencies. Lastly, we need robust public messaging systems that provide clear, consistent, actionable, and culturally tailored information about climate risks and preventive measures.
Extreme Weather Planning & Preparedness: We must ensure our communities have adequate physical and human systems to protect people from climate instability, including extreme heat, flooding, wildfire smoke, and other threats.
These systems must be tailored to the threats specific to a particular community and prioritize those who are most vulnerable. We need cooling centers prioritized in places where people have less access to air conditioning, and in rural, sparsely populated communities, it’s essential that people have air conditioning in their homes and places of work. We need adequate workplace regulations protecting people from heat waves. We need buildings that have adequate ventilation to protect people during wildfire events. Our water systems, buildings, and roads need to be protected against more frequent and extreme flooding. Preparing our social infrastructure is just as important as our physical infrastructure. That means investing in public health communications and preparedness systems, and strengthening community cohesion and systems of mutual aid.
Freedom to move: Proactively creating safe pathways for people whose homes are affected by climate change to ensure a world in which all humans can live with dignity.
Wherever we come from, we have the right to be safe. People leave their homes in search of shelter, food, and safety as a last resort. Research shows us that increasing climate impacts make displacement and migration more likely. Planning for the movement of people is the most important way we must adapt as a society. As a caring community, the right thing to do is to create safe routes for people who need to move within and between countries, and to welcome people in new places so they can thrive and support themselves and their families.
Freedom to thrive for all nations: Investing in the global south in a way that helps communities develop on their terms and respecting and supporting the democratic institutions and processes of those countries.
To avoid an unnecessary and damaging buildout of fossil fuels, to minimize international displacement and conflict, and to ensure human wellbeing at home and abroad, it is essential that international financial institutions invest in the global south in a way that helps communities develop on their terms. The bulk of future global carbon emissions will be determined by whether the global south follows OECD countries through the damaging path of fossil fuel use, or leapfrogs to clean energy technologies.
Because clean energy development is capital intensive, meaning its cost is primarily determined by building up front rather than operating fuels costs, whereas fossil fuel generation has lower up-front cost but high fuel costs, the global south must have access to low-interest financing to ensure clean energy is chosen. Not only is this path in our best interest, but given the responsibility that the U.S. and other OECD countries bear for historical carbon emissions, those countries have a moral obligation to provide that low-interest financing.
Meanwhile, significant portions of the global south are at risk of experiencing internal and international displacement due to climate change. The most important way to help people thrive in their countries or regions of origin is to help those countries develop in ways beneficial to them. That means making sure these countries benefit adequately from any mining or resources necessary in the clean energy transition, and can not only deploy clean energy technologies, but also manufacture them as well.
America at its best can be a force to encourage prosperity and freedom in the world. Realizing that promise means investing in the global south in a way that helps communities develop on their terms and respecting and supporting the democratic institutions and processes of those countries.
Conflict reduction: Achieving wellbeing and safety for all requires navigating the clean energy transition and climate instability not through a stance of conflict but rather through cooperation. Conflict undermines trust and collaboration among communities and nations, which are essential for navigating instability in the era of climate change.
Climate change is a global threat that does not respect borders. All nations benefit from stopping climate change as quickly as possible. While healthy economic competition toward clean technological development can increase prosperity and speed that transition, it is essential that this competition not be allowed to drift into violent conflict for resources.
Climate instability risks violent conflict by forcing change and creating the perception of a scarcity of resources. Violent conflict directly harms people and communities. It indirectly harms people by damaging systems essential for health, such as education, housing, food production, and healthcare. Active conflict and the maintenance of large militaries divert resources that would be better spent on both the clean energy transition and on ensuring the well-being of communities.
The most important way to avoid conflict in an era of climate instability is to pursue abundance, to ensure the freedom and well-being of the working class both in OECD countries and the global south.
